Good morning, sir:
It is easy to create a CD which boots from a floppy disk image file,
using the same basic technique that Linux uses to boot its kernels.
The key programs to do it this way are mkisofs, to create the
bootable CD file system, and isolinux to boot the Floppy Disk
image.

This is a simpleminded question, but I have spent a couple of hours
trying to puzzle an answer out of the materials on the FreeDOS
site--where it may be hidden among the jargon.

I have downloaded the ISO, but I don't want to install FreeDOS on my
hard disk. What I want to do is install it on a bootable CD so that I
can try its capabilities out before deciding what to do with it. For
instance, Linux offers several bootable CD images that one can use to
run any computer under the OS without affecting the computer's
installation in any way. How can I do that with FreeDOS? I'd be grateful
for a jargon-free answer (I know DOS, by the way.)